It is more than 40 years since Graham Goble of Little River Band fame formed ‘The Silence’, the first of a number of bands that ultimately lead Graham to world fame as a songwriter and performer. The other members of ‘The Silence’ were John Grinter, Barry Margitich and Chris Duffield.
Graham and John met at High School and became friends, with music being one of their common interests. This interest resulted in John learning guitar and Graham the banjo. Graham had been playing drums in a three-piece band. The next step was to recruit a Bass player and a Drummer, because Graham decided that he would play guitar rather than drums. Barry, who was also one of John’s friends, played rhythm guitar in another band but was persuaded to take up Bass for the new band. The drummer situation was resolved when Graham convinced his cousin Chris, who also played in another band, to join the group. So 'The Silence' was born.
At Gigs, ‘The Silence’ performed mainly covers of other bands, with the occasional inclusion of one of Graham’s original songs. The band’s style was largely influenced by groups of the era such as The Beatles, with two guitars, bass & drums, 3 vocalists.
‘The Silence’ played only a few gigs, including Church and YMCA dances, various parties and social gatherings. Two of the most prominent gigs were ‘The Hoadley’s Battle of the Sounds’ competitions held in Adelaide, Australia in 1966 and 1967. In the 1966 competition the band performed one of Graham’s original songs “So Goodbye”. The following year “Gimme Some Lovin’’ (Spencer Davis Group) was performed.
Prior to the band breaking up in 1967, ‘The Silence’ went into Nationwide Studios in Adelaide and recorded 18 original songs. The recordings were archived on vinyl discs. Only a few of these records were produced, each one being individually manufactured from the original eight track master tapes.
At a reunion of the original band members at Easter 2007, a decision was made to have the 1967 recordings released on CD.
The songs on this album have been digitally re-mastered using the vinyl records, as the master tapes have not survived. All songs are Graham’s originals and provide an insight into the future development of his talent as a songwriter, music arranger and performer. The LP, which included fourteen songs, was recorded over just two evenings and the EP, with four songs, over one evening.
The style of the music on this album is definitely 1960’s, but if you listen to the words, music and vocal arrangements you will recognise the brilliance of Graham’s talent that developed over the next forty years.
The other band members pursued different careers away from music. John started out as an Architectural Draftsman, Barry a Mechanical Draftsman, and Chris joined the Australian Army. The ironic conclusion is that all three ended up working as process/system 'Auditors' in their specific field of expertise.
In 2008, John, Barry & Chris re-formed ‘The Silence’, recruiting three other members to form the new group. Graham continues to record & release his solo CDs.
Barry Margitich & John Grinter